Pre-hospital oxygen therapy and saturation variability in COVID-19 patients with and without glucose metabolism disorders: part of the COLOS Study

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 19286 - 19
• Main Authors: Bronowicka-Szydełko, Agnieszka, Lewandowski, Łukasz, Lubieniecki, Pawel, Adamiec-Mroczek, Joanna, Doroszko, Adrian, Trocha, Małgorzata, Kujawa, Krzysztof, Matera-Witkiewicz, Agnieszka, Rabczyński, Maciej, Kuźnik, Edwin, Madziarski, Marcin, Sokołowski, Janusz, Jankowska, Ewa A., Madziarska, Katarzyna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 20.08.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 692/699; 692/699/255; 692/699/75; Aged; Albumin; Beta cells; Cell membranes; COVID-19; COVID-19 - blood; COVID-19 - therapy; Creatinine; Depolarization; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus (non-insulin dependent); Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - blood; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - metabolism; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - therapy; Female; Glucose; Glucose metabolism; Glucose Metabolism Disorders - blood; Glucose Metabolism Disorders - therapy; Hospitalization; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Insulin secretion; Lymphocytes; Male; Membrane potential; Metabolic disorders; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Oxygen; Oxygen - metabolism; Oxygen Inhalation Therapy - methods; Oxygen Saturation; Oxygen therapy; Pandemics; Potassium; Procalcitonin; SARS-CoV-2 - isolation & purification; Saturation; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Troponin; Troponin T
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-70240-w

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that viruses can have multiple receptor properties, penetrating various tissues and causing mutations in various genes, thus promoting a range of metabolic disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate the connection between three factors: diabetic status, pre-hospitalization oxygen therapy, and saturation levels, to the values of morphological, inflammatory, and biochemical parameters in the blood serum of COVID-19 patients. The study group consisted of 2139 patients, 1076 women (50.30%) and 1063 men (49.70%), with an average age of 63.73 ± 15.69 years. The population was divided into three groups based on a three-stage scale, taking into account patients with either type 2 diabetes/prediabetes (473 patients), those who received oxygen therapy before hospitalization, and those with a saturation value of below 95% (cut-off value). Among patients who did not receive pre-hospitalization oxygen therapy, those with diabetes and a SpO2 level < 95% had significantly higher levels of D-dimers, procalcitonin, albumin, lymphocytes, RDW-SD ≥ 47, potassium, creatinine, and troponin T when compared to diabetic patients with a SpO2 level ≥ 95%. Similarly, in the same group of patients without pre-hospitalization oxygen therapy, those without diabetes but with a SpO2 level < 95% showed significantly increased levels of IL-6, CRP, albumin, lymphocytes, RDW-SD ≥ 47, glucose, potassium, sodium, creatinine, and ALT, compared to patients without diabetes and with a SpO2 level ≥ 95%. The findings suggest that lower saturation levels may result in increased potassium and glucose levels in patients who did not receive any oxygen therapy before hospitalization due to COVID-19. It is hypothesized that this may be caused by damage to pancreatic β-cells by SARS-CoV-2, and disturbances in the potassium channel, leading to cell membrane depolarization and insulin secretion.